The Elden Ring Church of Irith Sacred Tear location is one of the easiest pickups in the game, and you do not even need to beat Godrick to get it. The church is in southern Liurnia of the Lakes, behind Stormveil Castle, southwest of the Lake-Facing Cliffs Site of Grace. The tear is waiting inside by the statue, and nothing is guarding it. Here is how to get there, including the route that skips Margit entirely.
What You’ll Read:
Where to Find the Church of Irith Sacred Tear
Walk in, and you will see a large statue of Marika at the back of the church. The Sacred Tear is the glowing point of light at its base. Grab it and you are done. The church is a ruin. Nothing spawns here. No enemies and no ambush on your way out.
An annoying drawback is that there is no Site of Grace inside the church to upgrade your flask there. Walk back northeast to Lake-Facing Cliffs and rest at that Grace to actually spend the Tear.
How to Get to Church of Irith Location
There are two ways in. One needs Godrick dead. Here’s how each one works:
The Normal Route (After Godrick)
Beat Godrick the Grafted, and the throne room at the back of the keep opens up. Walk through it to Stormveil’s northern exit, and you walk straight into Liurnia at the Lake-Facing Cliffs Site of Grace. Light it, then follow the road southwest and downhill. The church shows up almost immediately.
The Detour
This is the good one. Start at the Stormhill Shack grace, where Roderika sits. Follow the winding path toward the Castleward Tunnel until you are near Stormveil’s main gate, but do not go in. Take the trail that branches north instead, the one running under the big overpass attached to the castle.
That path ends at a collapsed bridge with a Finger Reader parked on it. Go to the end of the bridge and drop down onto the cliffside trail on your left. Hug the wall and keep following the ledge. It carries you around the castle and into Liurnia, and from there it is a short run to Lake-Facing Cliffs and the church.
Honestly, if I had known about this on my first playthrough, I would have grabbed the flask upgrade before my tenth attempt at Margit instead of after it.
Church of Irith Thops Spell Shop
Thops is a Raya Lucaria student sitting on a bench off to the side. Donate 10 runes, and he opens his shop.
| Sorcery | Cost | Worth buying? |
|---|---|---|
| Glintstone Pebble | 1,000 runes | No, sold in Limgrave too |
| Glintstone Arc | 1,500 runes | No, sold in Limgrave too |
| Starlight | 2,500 runes | Yes, only Thops sells it |
Note: I recommend buying Starlight from the catalogue. You can buy the other two back in Limgrave anyway, and a second copy of a spell does nothing for you.
Why Should You Give Thops the Academy Glintstone Key
Thops wants to get back into the academy. The key he will accept is the second one, found inside Raya Lucaria Academy itself. Hand it over, and he gives you the Erudition gesture, then packs up and leaves the church.
That gesture matters later. It opens the Converted Tower puzzle, and the Converted Fringe Tower needs it alongside a Raya Lucaria stone crown.
Warning: Do not kill Thops before you have the Erudition gesture. A player testing this said it locks those gesture-gated doors until New Game Plus. His loot is not worth losing two towers over.
Why Should You Go Back to Thops
Come back to the church one more time after he leaves, or reload the area. A Teardrop Scarab now sits roughly where he was. Kill it for Ash of War: Thops’s Barrier.
What Else to Grab While You’re Here
The ground around the church is decent early crafting territory. You can pick Herba, Erdleaf Flower, Rowa Fruit, and Mushroom in the immediate area, plus a Warming Stone.
That Warming Stone is the one people overlook. It burns FP to heal everyone standing near it over time, which is genuinely useful in co-op. The rest feeds basic crafting: Erdleaf Flower for Fire Grease, Herba for Neutralizing Boluses, Rowa Fruit for Rowa Raisins.
There is also a tent northwest of the church with a corpse holding Glintstone Craftsman’s Cookbook. That one teaches Cuckoo Glintstone and is the first of eight books in the series.
That covers the Church of Irith Sacred Tear and everything else worth pulling out of that ruin. Did you take the ledge route or just fight Godrick? Let me know in the comments.
FAQ
I killed the Teardrop Scarab and got nothing. Why?
You already own Ash of War: Thops’s Barrier. The scarab does not drop a duplicate. Check your inventory before you go hunting for a bug that is not there.
Why won’t Thops take my Academy Glintstone Key?
You are offering the wrong one. There are two keys in the game, and he refuses the first because you need it to enter the academy yourself. Only the second key, found inside Raya Lucaria, works.
Who was Irith?
The game never says. No item description, no dialogue, nothing. The Irithyll and Aerith naming theories floating around are fan speculation with no confirmation from FromSoftware.
